Market may begin flat despite positive cues from Asian peers

The key Indian benchmark indices are expected to make a flat start to the session despite positive cues from Asian peers and mixed cues from the Wall Street. The SGX Nifty is currently at 10,597 level, down by 3 points. Shaktikanta Das has been appointed the new RBI governor for a period of three years. 

Majority of markets in Asia were seen advancing on Wednesday in spite of mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The renewed optimism about the US and China trade talks contributed to the upmove, along with a report from a media house suggesting that China is headed for cutting tariffs on imported US made cars, which helped auto stocks to rally in the region. The Japanese stock market Nikkei 225 has surged 1.85 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has rallied 1.50 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index was almost unchanged.  

Back home, it was a roller-coaster ride for the equity benchmark indices in Tuesday’s trading session. The markets gave a knee-jerk reaction, opening gap-down on the back of RBI governor Urjit Patel’s unexpected resignation and BJP trailing the Congress in the state election results. However, in the second-half of the trading session, markets pared all of their losses to close the day in the positive terrain. Nifty surged 0.58 per cent to 10,549 and the BSE Sensex rose 0.54 per cent to 35,150. The broader indices outperformed the frontline indices, as Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap jumped 1.67 and 1.82 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, all the indices ended the session in the green, with Nifty PSU and Nifty Media being the top gainers.  
  
In the US, after starting the session with a positive bias, the stocks turned volatile during the course of the trading session on Tuesday and closed on a mixed note as reports of progress in the US and China trade talks were partially offset by possible government shutdown concerns. In the economic news, the Producer Price Index moved up 0.1 per cent in the month of November, while the core rate, which excludes food and energy, was up 0.3 per cent for the period. The Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts as it added 0.16 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.22 per cent and the S&P 500 lost 0.04 per cent.   
  
The European equity markets closed firmly in the positive terrain on Tuesday as economic data in the region was mostly upbeat. The German investor confidence regarding the economy unexpectedly improved and this was further boosted by reports that the US and China are once again discussing trade issues. The DAX of Germany jumped 1.49 per cent, the CAC of France climbed 1.35 per cent and the UK’s FTSE 100 finished higher by 1.27 per cent.